Missing
by Sadarga
Summary: AU set in the awkward space between ME2 and ME3. When Admiral Anderson is reported missing, it is up to Shepard to find him. Only problem is; the Alliance still doesn't fully trust her. To make sure she doesn't do any funny business, one of their top ranking soldiers is sent along with the former spectre. Only problem is - that soldier is Major Kaidan Alenko. ON INDEFINITE HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer Time! **I don't own bioware, nor it's characters, nor it's uh, scenery. I just write about it to express my undying love.

* * *

_Missing._

Chapter 1.

* * *

There was a knocking at her door, and at three in the morning that was an unexpected thing. It also didn't bode well for who was calling. The knocking continued incessantly until she finally got up and pressed the button to open her apartment door. Even then it seemed she would get no respite.

"Shepard." Admiral Hackett began as he walked into her apartment, apparently in too much of a rush to say hello. But it wasn't the first time, so she didn't really mind. "I have an important mission for you. Top priority, and we need to go immediately." It was at that moment she switched on the lights, showering her somewhat empty living room with light and temporarily blinding herself in the process. After blinking a few times and rubbing her eyes, she turned around to see Hackett looking at her with an almost bemused face.

Glancing in a window nearby, she saw why.

Black hair sticking out at all different angles, eyes droopy and barely focused while the grey sweat pants she wore to bed seemed to have gotten a mind of their own and pulled themselves up to expose half of her calf's. Looking back to the Admiral, she all of a sudden felt terribly underdressed. He seemed to think so too judging by his expression - which she didn't appreciate in the slightest.

"It's three in the morning Admiral, what do you expect?" He shrugged, which she took as an invitation for her to continue speaking. "So what were you saying about a top priority mission?" She stifled a yawn.

All at once the Admirals mood changed; he straightened up, his jaw clenched, while all trace of amusement vanished from his face. A horrible dooming feeling hit her when she saw the man's grave expression, one that she could put down to only two things - the Reapers were here, or the Reapers were on their way here. From the lack of screaming and giant hulking monsters destroying everything in sight, she guessed the latter. Though that still wasn't good. Far from it.

And just like his had - her mood immediately turned serious. She may not be a Commander anymore, but she was still Shepard. And she knew how much of a threat the Reapers were.

"How far off are they sir?"

"How far off are what?" Hackett asked, frowning at the same time that she did. It took her a moment to hesitantly answer, and even then she had began to doubt her initial assumpation.

"…The Reapers, sir?" Understanding dawned on Hackett's face, but he quickly shook his head. She wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing. Though it did mean that the destruction of the universe had been postponed a little longer.

"No, it's not the Reapers." She sighed with relief. "Not entirely at least." As she looked at him, that ominous, dooming feeling came back again, worse than ever.

"Top priority?" She asked, and he nodded his head.

"Have to leave immediately?" Again; her answer was a nod. Taking a long, hard look at Hackett, then to her appearance - she made a quick decision.

"…I'll go get my coat."

* * *

In the end she grabbed a hat as well as a coat, in the hopes that she could just hide her tangled mess of unruly hair underneath it. But even she could see the bits sticking out at odd angles from beneath it, so she knew her plan had completely failed.

She and Hackett were seated opposite each other on an otherwise empty shuttle, travelling to the Alliance headquarters in Vancouver. It was fortunate that the Alliance had chosen to put her under house arrest in a block of apartments, for if not then it would have been an awfully long journey.

As the shuttle began to slow (meaning they were at their destination), she caught another glimpse of the Admirals expression. Where in her apartment it had been serious and grave, it was now deceptively calm.

Too calm. Enough for her to realise he was trying to hide how he really felt, which she never expected the Admiral to need to do. For some reason that worried her more than not knowing why she was needed in the first place. If it was making the Admiral nervous, then it must be extremely serious.

And she was no physiologist, but even she could tell the man was getting progressively more agitated the closer they got to their destination.

The shuttle pulled to a stop, while it's doors opened almost immediately afterwards. They were out and walking in an instant, heading to somewhere that only the Admiral knew of. She was walking blind, even more so because all the lights in the shuttle bay were off. But what could you expect so early in the morning? Though it did make her wonder how exactly Hackett was managing to get around without walking into something, where she had already tripped on a cable or three.

The two travelled in silence; him focused and marching hurriedly forwards, and her stumbling to keep up with him, while constantly having to sidestep to avoid stubbing her toe or hitting something again.

After what seemed to be the longest (and darkest) journey of her life; they reached an elevator, which she hadn't expected at all. So, she found herself marching straight into it, much to her embarrassment. Why was it that she was so uncoordinated this morning? She put it down to being rudely awoken hours before she was usually conscious.

Hackett didn't even seem to notice her blunder though, and when they stepped into the elevator and began to shoot up - she could see why. That mask of his was beginning to crack, and the first signs of his true feelings were showing; agitation, and a fear within his eyes.

What had happened, it was bad enough to make even the great Admiral Hackett nervous. That made her more concerned than she dared admit.

* * *

When the elevator doors finally opened, they opened to a scarcely lit hallway with only a single door closed at the very end. It didn't help the situation feel any less ominous. Although the door was shut, voices - even from where she stood - could be heard from behind it. There was some sort of argument going on, though she couldn't distinguish between who and about what.

After stepping into the room after the Admiral; those voices - that were near enough shouting at each other - turned out to belong to Liara, and - to her discontent - Councillor Udina. Never had she felt such completely opposite feelings in the exact same instant.

But the two didn't even notice her when she walked in, so caught up in their argument that they were. And while she shifted into the room quietly, the Asari and the aged man continued to throw blows at each other.

"And your expecting us to trust your word? The word of an Asari?" As she slipped in beside Liara, the asari threw up her arms in frustration.

"Why would I lie about something like this?" Udina glared, or smiled. It was hard to tell with him.

"I don't know, perhaps you just want another chance at glory. Or maybe you just want to give the Alliance yet another problem to deal with!" It was at that exact moment that Udina finally noticed Shepard herself, and the man didn't even bother to hide his groan of disgust. So much so being civil.

"Speaking of problems - what are _you_ doing here? I thought we got rid of you when you were imprisoned."

"I was put under_ House Arrest _Udina. There's a difference. If I was imprisoned then I would have a guard following me when I went to the toilet, which I definitely don't."

"Of all the examples you could give, you chose that one?" Liara asked, while Shepard herself just shrugged. A small smirk appeared on the asari's face. "I see being baby sat by the Alliance for three months hasn't changed you."

"Nope." She answered with, making a point to making a popping sound on the 'p'. In truth she was just happy to have someone to talk to, as under House Arrest she could only speak with her guards for so long, and talking to herself was the first step of insanity. And she refused to be officially crazy. What she said now was just her making up for three months of being completely socially deprived. Even arguing with Udina was a welcome change to silence.

Someone then cleared their throat suddenly, and all at once Shepard's mood soured once more. She took back the part about welcoming an argument with Udina. Before saying anything or doing anything, she took a moment to glare icily at Udina from across the table, that sat in the centre of the barely lit room.

What was it with the lighting? Had the Alliance ran out of money to pay the electricity bill?

"That doesn't answer my question of why exactly you are here. From what I understand your not even a Commander anymore. I didn't think disgraced Alliance officers were permitted to be privvy to important Alliance intel." It was a good thing that she was too exhausted to do anything, as if not then the Councillor would have found a book being hurled at his head. She settled with glaring instead, though it didn't really help.

Her mood quickly plummeted from bad to worse, at the speed that only the Councillor could create. At best the two of them had never gotten along, and ever since Anderson had stepped down as Councillor in favour of Udina, the brash old politician had just gotten even more irritating and unbearable. And on top of it he even had a marginal amount of power now, which made him egoistic as well as brash. He couldn't really get much worse.

The only time he acted pleasant to her was when he wanted something, but he didn't do that often anymore. Ever since it became quite clear that she wasn't falling for any of his manipulative tricks.

The two of them were still shooting glares at the other when some else cleared their throat and distracted them. That someone was Admiral Hackett, his expression now bordering on desperate. She all of a sudden felt rather guilty for getting caught up in her annoyance, since she was here for a reason. One which was troubling Hackett greatly.

"This matter is too important and too urgent for the two of you to be arguing. Shepard is here by my orders, if that's a problem then I suggest you leave now Councillor Udina." She did want to laugh at the expression of the shot down Udina, but resisted. It wasn't the right time to be acting a child. Maybe later.

"Your all here for a reason, one which I fear is becoming an increasingly dire situation." It was then, as Hackett took a moment to stare individually at everyone present, that she noticed the other Alliance Admirals standing in the room, all standing straight and properly dressed in their Admirals attire. In her old brown coat, black hat and battered shoes - it was no wonder that everyone was looking at her like she was some sort of homeless beggar that had found it's way off the streets.

Hackett continued, which she appreciated. Everyone would stop staring at her. In theory anyways.

There was a pause before he continued, and in that short moment her stomach felt hollow and her throat began to dry.

"Anderson's missing." A few hushed murmurs of surprise ran through the Admirals, but it was her who spoke up first, her voice wavering and her throat completely dry.

"Missing sir? Since when? _Where_?" Now she understood why Hackett was so worried. That dooming feeling she had very quickly turned to terror. For Anderson's safety. For what might have happened to him.

Admiral Hackett glanced at her, his eyes betraying even more panic that her own.

"He's been missing since his flight into Vancouver yesterday never arrived."

"-And we can find no trace of his ship either." Liara cut in suddenly. "-Nor any wreckage or signs of a battle. We can't even trace the last place that the ship was docked at." Her blood ran cold. Liara knew everything, absolutely _everything _about the galaxy, so why couldn't she find this information out? Nothing escaped the Asari's knowledge anymore, which was why Shepard worried so much now.

If not even Liara knew what had happened, then what hope did they have of ever finding Anderson?

Her mind ran through all the possibilities, all the ideas she could think of that would explain what had happened. None made sense though, especially since Liara was just as in the dark as everyone else.

If slavers or mercenaries had attacked Anderson's ship, then someone would have reported it to Liara. Even an attack by Cerberus wouldn't have gone unnoticed by one of the Asari's agents.

That left Shepard with nothing. No ideas. No explanations.

Nothing.

She finally sighed, regretfully accepting that brooding over all the impossible possibilities wasn't going to help the situation. Dropping her head down, she leaned over the table and gripped the edge so tightly that her knuckles turned white. What were they going to do?

What_ could_ they do?"

"Well," She finally said, breaking the silence (but not the building tension). "Does anyone have any suggestions of what to do?" When she next looked back up, she was shocked to see everyone staring at her. Even Udina. Admiral Hackett met her gaze, his expression somewhat calmer than before.

"Yes Shepard, we have a plan." A ghost of a smile fell onto Hackett's face. "Our plan is you."

* * *

**Author's Note.**

If I've made any errors then I'll be happy to correct them if you point them out. I just need to get this posted before I change my mind. Ha.

So hey, long time no write. Been sitting on too many ideas for too long so I think my brain might have overloaded and died. But somehow I managed to get this written, and I'm (mostly) happy with how it's turned out. Of course I would absolutely LOVE to know what you guys think.

If you hadn't guessed, then this story is an AU. And I even have the original description still that I wrote when I first came up with this idea;

_An AU set in the awkward space between ME2 and ME3. When Admiral Anderson is reported missing, it is up to Shepard to find him. Only problem is; the alliance still doesn't fully trust her. To make sure she doesn't do any funny business, one of their top ranking soldiers is sent along with the former spectre. Only problem is - that soldier is Major Kaidan Alenko._

Well, until next time!

If you would take the time to leave a review (even if you just want to tell me how terrible my grammar is!) then I would very much appreciate it.

Thank you, and have a great time UntilIEventuallyUpdateThis! :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bioware or it's Characters. Damn shame that is.

* * *

_Missing_

Chapter 2

* * *

If there was one good to thing to this whole situation, it was that she could finally hold a gun again without it raising suspicion or causing problems. Though she might now still cause problems, it wouldn't be for the Alliance. Or so she had told the Admirals when she had accepted Hackett's offer.

Hackett's no doubt well fought-over offer.

Full reinstatement would be her reward, only if she could find Anderson. Considering how she was already planning to find Anderson (even if she wasn't technically allowed to), getting her command back was just an added bonus. Chances were that Hackett had guessed she would take this problem upon herself to solve anyways, so throwing in her dignity and a reinstatement was just his way of thanking her in advance.

So now she found herself stepping out of yet another shuttle into the Alliance headquarters, though this time she could actually see where she was going. No walking into anything this time then, which was good since there were actually people around to witness it if it happened.

It was early evening and so everywhere was a flurry of the days last-minute activity. She didn't mind though, if anything she welcomed the rush. It reminded her of where she truly belonged - fighting, that is. Risking her life on a daily basis was far more preferable to her than running the risk of death by boredom. Give her danger and impossible odds any day instead of that.

Her crew and ship were apparently stationed in docking port fifteen A, which fortunately wasn't too far away. So she wasn't going to have to drag her armour and weapons _too _far.

From where she stood she could already see the ship in question - the one that the Admirals had assigned to her. Whether because of her or because of Joker; they didn't give her back the Normandy, which was a shame. That was her ship, and it had _her _crew on it. And she trusted her crew with her life.

The people she would be travelling with now were strangers to her, likely people that the Alliance had deemed most loyal and least likely to defect to another side. Apparently an imminent attack by the Reaper-controlled Collectors wasn't enough to explain why she had - temporarily - worked with Cerberus. In their eyes she was as much as traitor as the Illusive Man himself.

So she had given up trying to explain this to them, as nothing short of hitting them over the head with hammer seemed to ever have any effect on the Alliance. Even then it was still a struggle.

The ship - not her ship, just one she was supposedly in charge of - was a flurry of activity; soldiers running about with gear, weapons and food supplies, while mechanics ran the last few checks on the engine, thrusters and exterior. It wasn't an unusual sight for her.

"Commander Shepard!" Someone called from in front of her, and she looked ahead to some stacked crates just beneath the ship to see a gangly girl, that was at least five years younger than her waving. Tentatively she waved back, unsure at who exactly it was she was waving to. The girl sprang from her seat and charged over to her, almost knocking over a few other people in the process.

The girl in question had light brown hair that was cropped military short, with big brown eyes to match. Freckles littered her face and uncovered arms, giving her an extremely child-like look. Add to that the grin she had plastered on her face and the girl looked like she was barely out of school, let alone an Alliance soldier.

"I'm not technically a Commander yet," She said finally, noticing how the girl continued to stare. "-So just call me Shepard." The girl seemed to like this.

"Really? That's like almost on a first name basis!" The girl squealed suddenly, which was too much of a high pitched noise for her ears to appreciate. "This is like, the best day _ever_!"

"That's debateable." She muttered quietly to herself, but even if she had screamed it at the top of her lungs the girl probably wouldn't have noticed. As she carried on towards the ship, the girl followed behind, incessantly babbling on to her the entire time. Something about Shepard herself, then something about the mission until finally going back to Shepard herself again.

It wasn't _that_ annoying really, more so it was just like listening to an over-excited, teenage version of herself. Only with more freckles.

The ship, she saw now that she was standing right in front of it, was tiny. Ugly too, but she could mostly ignore that. Even the Normandy would have dwarfed it in comparison - and her ship was one of the smaller vessels. This was beyond a joke, and she was sure that Udina had something to do with this. It didn't even look like it could fit the entire crew on board it, let alone all the gear, supplies and weaponry that they seemed to be taking with them.

For the moment, she pretended that she wasn't going to be living in the most cramped ship ever, because another thought suddenly crossed her mind.

Where was the soldier?

* * *

After having agreed to help, the other Admirals had practically forced Hackett to put someone on the ship with Shepard herself - a higher ranking Alliance officer. Though no one had ever said as much, it was obvious that they just wanted a spy to report back to them on everything that she did. If being surrounded by a crew who would be reporting on her anyways wasn't enough.

But she hadn't really been given much of a choice, not unless she wanted to go back to her apartment and orchestrate the mission from there. And she refused that completely, given that all she had done for three months is sit around and play cards with herself (she usually won). She wanted to be out and in the action, not sitting back and waiting for the next report to come in.

And if Anderson was in trouble, then she wasn't going to lie around waiting for news to come in about him. The guilt if she didn't go to find him herself would kill her, especially if she was to find out that he was-

No, Anderson was tough. A survivor. She would find him, safe and unharmed.

Or so she prayed.

* * *

After a huff, groan and reluctant smile; she turned back around to the girl, who was still talking endlessly to no one in particular.

"Uh, excuse me?" The girl stopped speaking immediately, big brown eyes gazing at her in awe.

"Yes Comm-sorry, _Shepard_."

"Do you know whether the Major is here yet?" Her eyes seem to light up at the question, which was odd. What was so exciting about that? Or was this Major another one of her heroes? At least if that was so then the girl wouldn't be by her feet all the time. Babysitting was the last thing she wanted to be doing right now. Not when she had to focus on finding Anderson at least.

The girl nodded her head quickly, and pointed towards the ship.

"Yes ma'am. I think I saw him on the flight deck a few minutes ago." She nodded. Now she knew where she was headed. Since it was inevitable that she would meet this Major at some point, she would meet 'him' on her own terms and by her own choice. That way she still had some semblance of control with a ship and crew that was supposedly hers. On loan though, of course.

"Thank you." The girl nodded, and thankfully didn't think to follow anymore. Before she left, Shepard turned back to the girl, a friendly (if a slightly forced) smile on her face.

"What's your name?" The girl blinked just once before a grin lit up her face.

"Mila, ma'am." Her smile was less forced when she next spoke.

"Then I'll see you around Mila." With nothing else to say on the matter; Shepard left, leaving Mila standing behind and watching her as she stepped inside the ship.

Inside was as small as out, it seemed, which was expected but not appreciated. The flight controls were on her left, and when she looked she half-expected Joker to be sitting there, in some sort of an argument with EDI. But no, they were both under lockdown on a whole other ship. They probably weren't even in Vancouver anymore.

On her right was the control centre and main flight deck. She didn't know why it was the 'main' flight deck, considering that this ship barely looked large enough to fit in enough sleeping accommodations, let alone another control centre. But the Main flight deck it was, in all it's tiny glory.

People were already busy at work at various stations, so the deck was a hum of activity. That brought another smile to her face. The constant buzz of activity was all around her, which was comforting. Months in an apartment by herself had reminded her how a ship was never silent. It had been too quiet in the months she had spent alone.

Looking around, she saw no sign of the Major, since everyone around her were clearly either technicians or engineers (apparently there was a difference between the two of them). So she turned to the nearest person to her instead.

"Excuse me?" The man immediately shot his arm up into a salute, dropping the stuff he was carrying as he did. Datapads crashed to the floor, and the man physically cringed when each one hit the ground.

"C-commander! I'm s-so sor-rry, I w-will-" She rolled her eyes, but was smiling all the same.

"Relax, your not in any trouble. The amount of times I've dropped things has gone beyond counting these days." That seemed to calm him a little, and by the time she had helped him pick everything back up he seemed capable of talking normally to her.

"Now, do you know where this Major is?"

* * *

The Major wasn't on the flight deck. Not anymore, at least. He was down in the armoury, which meant trekking down in an elevator that was even slower than the original Normanday's one. It did give her time to think though.

Ever since being told about him, she had been trying to figure out who the Major was. Since she was all but banned from accessing any Alliance information, she couldn't just look them up. Her own knowledge was all she had, and the only Major she could remember was female. So it couldn't be her.

That left her in the dark, and her stomach fluttering with excitement.

When the doors finally opened, and she saw a dark haired man in full armour leaning over the console in front of him; that fluttering of excitement turned to horror.

"Kaidan…" She whispered, her voice not able to be any louder. His whole body tensed up when she called his name, while his hands gripped the edges of the console like he was hanging on for dear life.

On her lips hung his name, the sound tasting odd but familiar at the same time. Her mouth hung open just slightly, where one of her hands was lifted slightly, as if to reach out to him.

When he slowly - almost reluctantly - turned round to face her, she snapped both of her hands down to her sides.

He hadn't changed, which made it so much worse. Hair still just as dark, eyes still just as warm, brown and friendly. Though they seemed glazed over right now, almost like he was about to cry. But why would he? There was no reason for him to.

For some reason, seeing him all emotional only made her lose it even more. It was a struggle not to run to him, crying out a million kind of apologies. Unless she was mistaken, he seemed to be having similar thoughts.

"…Luna." Was all he finally said, after a long moment of silence - and that was enough. That one simple word had been enough. It said everything that needed to be said, spoke more than any speech could have done.

His words broke their stupor, and the two ran at each other (just like in those cheesy, low budget movies) and embraced, whispering sweet nothings until the world melted around them. Everything was perfect once more.

If only that had happened.

* * *

"Kaidan…" His whole body tensed up when she called his name, his knuckles going white as he gripped onto the console he looked at. Shoulders were rigid, while it seemed like he wasn't breathing being that he was so still.

For a moment; her eyes were filled with tears as she looked at him, while all the memories came back to her. Laughter, joy, comradeship, comfort, hope. Cups of coffee at midnight, winding up Ashley and Garrus with the Mako and the weapons lockers, stealing Jokers biscuit supply. Fighting side-by-side, up against impossible odds with him standing beside her.

Then came betrayal. _The _betrayal. And a whole lot of pain, all caused by him. And as much as she didn't wish to remember that, she couldn't stop herself. No friend betrayed the other. Never.

Ever.

They weren't friends. Not anymore.

As he finally turned round, with hair just as dark and eyes just as caramel brown, she was certain in how she felt. And it wasn't good.

"Commander." The Major said, giving her a curt salute. The tension in his shoulders was still there, so his salute was just a courtesy. She supposed she should have done the same - and he seemed to expect that too - but she didn't. He would get no satisfaction of seeing her salute to him. Even if he was now technically her superior.

They fell into a silence, where the two of them just stood staring at each other. A range of varying emotions seemed to run across Kaidan's face, making it hard for her to know how he felt. When she thought he looked sad, his lips would purse and he would glare at her.

One thing was for certain though; he hadn't forgotten either.

All of a sudden she just wanted to be gone. She didn't want to be anywhere near the Major, let alone standing opposite him. Looking at him just reminded her of what had happened, of what he had done to hurt her.

When he finally opened his mouth to speak (raising a hand slightly as he did); she rammed her fist against the elevator button, sending the doors slamming shut between them. In the small space of the elevator she heard how breathless she had become, while looking down she saw that her hands were shaking. Her knees felt ready to buckle underneath her, but she somehow stopped them.

She refused to allow the Major to have that kind of effect on her. Not anymore. Her hands stopped shaking.

By the time the elevator had stopped outside her cabin, she had all but calmed down. Anger was the only thing she felt, towards whoever was responsible for putting the Major on the same mission as her. Why not someone else? Surely they wouldn't trust a former crew mate of hers - a former friend?

That was how she knew it was Hackett who had arranged this. It was probably his attempt at making the situation minutely better for her. Little did he knew he had actually made it a whole lot worse. But she couldn't be angry at him for that - he didn't know after all. It wasn't done maliciously.

Finding her bed in the dark of her room, she slumped down onto it without bothering to undress or even take her shoes off. Exhaustion hit her, whether because of the early start to her day or because of everything else, she didn't know.

One thing that was for certain though, was that she wasn't going to let her ex-friend get in the way of this mission.

She would find Anderson, with or without Kaidan's help.

A sigh escaped her.

Despite it all, it had been nice to see Kaidan again. Great, even. The scars he gave her still burned new in her memory, but the good times weren't forgotten either. And they had created a lot of those.

It wasn't hate she felt towards him, more just anger. Anger at the general situation, anger at Udina. Hell, even anger at the Alliance for giving her such a pathetically small ship.

And - despite it all - she missed him, more than she had initially realised. It took seeing him again to remind her that he was always the first to check on her, and the one who could always tell when she was hurt. She missed her closest friend dearly. The one that she used to always be able to rely on.

She missed the old Kaidan, even he clearly didn't feel the same.

Eyes finally fluttering shut, the smallest of smiles graced her face, just before she fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

She was smiling as she fell asleep, he noted. A sign that she was feeling calm - safe, and unknowing. All of which was a simple ruse meant to lure her into a false sense of security. Though she was apparently stupid enough to fall for it. As was the Alliance.

With the press of a button, the ship set off. Towards the beacon. Where their precious Admiral was last seen.

The Alliance had fallen for the bait, and they had dragged Shepard down with them.

All was going according to plan. And there was nothing that could stop that.

* * *

**Author's Note.**

Update time - and sooner than expected yay! Apologies for any errors, I'm posting this half-asleep at almost midnight, but I'll come back and sort them out later. If this chapter is too long or has too much to it, please let me know. I'd hate for me to start boring you :').

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has favoured and followed this story. I don't think I've ever got so much attention so quickly on a story.

A special thanks to The Lonely Traveler for reviewing the previous chapter - thanks!

Thanks everyone, and have a nice while until I update and say this again! haha. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I don't own Bioware or it's awesome Characters. Yet.

* * *

_Missing_

Chapter 3

* * *

She was in a forest. A beautiful, tranquil forest. Birds nearby chirped merrily, while a light wind brushed through the woods and made the trees around her dance. A fresh scent filled the air, which she breathed in deeply.

And - standing in front of her - was him.

"Anderson?" Even after rubbing her eyes she didn't completely believe the sight ahead. He stood in front of her; face clean, while all his scars, cuts and bruises were completely gone. Like they had never even been there.

For the first time in what seemed like years - the man looked to be at peace. Completely and utterly. A rare sight, though it was more than welcome.

He was smiling at her, much like a father would a daughter. It was fitting considering that she looked up to him as a child would their parent. Her mentor. Her friend.

She returned his smile with a grin, feeling like a scruffy fifteen year old all over again under his kind gaze. He had that kind of easy effect on her. Or perhaps he just knew her all too well. He tilted his head slightly to look at her with a slight frown. It was completely out of place on his otherwise completely complacent face, which bothered her somewhat.

Then, almost as soon as it had started, the frown was gone. Replaced by a warm smile.

But it looked false. Worryingly so.

"Damn Shepard, what's got you looking so scared?" That was all it took. She remembered everything. And panic was the first thing she felt. Panic, along with a whole lot of fear. Not for her though - for him.

"Anderson where are you?" She asked, the desperation clear in her voice. In response he began laughing. Manically. Loudly. His laughter filled the entire forest, igniting the trees into flames. Ash and smoke now filled her senses, choking her and blinding her at the same time.

The world around her began to burn in a mist of darkness and dust, the fires destroying everything around. The chirps of the bird became shrieks and screams, while the gentle wind was now bullets shooting at her.

Yet Anderson still stood motionless, except for the laughter that is. Face contorting, the man started becoming disfigured and hideous. Skin paled, eyes darkened and hair fell. What was left chilled her to the very core.

"The galaxy is a dark place Commander." The black eyed man said, his voice eerily calm. "And it's soon about to get a whole lot darker for you." Screams rose up as the man began laughing once more, his voice twisted and corrupt. People - horrible, screeching voices - were calling her name over and over again; accusing, insulting and blaming.

Her fault. Everything was her fault.

Covering her hands with her ears she felt water, which she soon realised to be blood. The bullets flying around her finally began to hit, and she couldn't stop the pained screams from escaping. More laughing.

Collapsing to her knees and curling up in a ball, it was all she could do to will away the screaming, shooting and laughter.

Then she opened her eyes. And he was there.

* * *

"Shepard, Shepard! - _Luna_!" Kaidan shook her shoulder, his face mere inches from her own. Those caramel eyes of his were filled with fear, while he continued to call her name. Blinking a few times, she began to frown.

"Kaidan?" She asked, almost drowsily. A sigh of relief escaped him, while the tension in his shoulders instantly vanished.

"Your okay." He began to smile, a sight that made her feel strangely content. "Good. When I heard screaming coming from your room…well, I didn't know what to think." His hand squeezed her shoulder affectionately, while he continued to smile kindly at her. She found herself smiling back, forgetting all that had happened the previous day. And everything bad before that. Only the good memories still shone through, as bright as day.

One thing did make her pause though.

"Why were you near my room Kaidan?" He shrugged, while his hand absentmindedly stroked her shoulder in reassurance. Wherever his hand moved, a warm feeling was left in it's place. The sensation was oddly pleasing.

"I was walking to my own from the elevator. I just happened to be passing yours when I heard screaming." For some reason she actually believed him, despite knowing that her room was the last one along the hallway. He was lying, yet that didn't seem to bother her. Nothing seemed to bother her anymore.

Peace. That was all she felt.

"That loud was I?" She smiled and he smirked, something that she hadn't seen in a long while. It was that which reminded her of how much she had missed Kaidan. That smile, the warmth in his eyes. She had missed that. Her friend. His grin only widened as he answered.

"Even louder." A laugh escaped her, while Kaidan began to absentmindedly stroke her shoulder with his thumb. Her eyes half closed, enjoying the comforting feeling. She barely even remembered to answer.

"…Sorry." What was a soft, gentle feeling became a small, sharp pain on her shoulder. A wince escaped before she could stop herself.

"Sorry isn't good enough Shepard. But you wouldn't know that." She frowned, while Kaidan's smirk slowly dropped to a grimace, then to a glare as their eyes finally met. All warmth had left them, leaving only a bitter cold in it's place. It was clear he wasn't joking. The hand on her shoulder began to tighten.

Why the sudden change? A chill ran through her suddenly, as her eyes widened slightly.

"…What?" Was all she could say, which seemed to anger Kaidan.

"You heard me." The hand on her shoulder tightened yet more, gripping her and digging into her like claws. She let out a cry of pain, while tears welled up in her eyes as she pushed herself away from Kaidan. But as she went to push him off of her - he grabbed her, spun her around so that he now held her in a choking head lock. Spots danced in front of her eyes as she grabbed and gasped for air that she desperately needed.

In a mirror nearby she watched as Kaidan's face contorted, while his eyes darkened. Just like Anderson's had. She screamed. Was this real? What was going on? The grip around her neck tightened, and she hopelessly tried to pry Kaidan's hands from her neck, to no avail. The shrieking was back. All the harsh words and accusations, most of which she knew were true but refused to admit that even to herself. Destroyer. Liar.

Murderer.

Her eyes saw nothing but white now, while her ears listened to the voice that she knew would haunt her forever. Not Kaidan's, but someone else's. Some_thing _else. It had never been Kaidan in the first place, only some being that looked like him when it chose to.

"Nowhere is safe anymore. No corner of the galaxy will be left tainted by you or anyone. The cleansing is coming, and it won't stop for anyone. Not even for you." The dark voice called as the fight finally left her and her body slumped to the ground. "The darkness is coming. It will cleanse the world and purify it of it's evil. And it will consume you whole. _Murderer._"

"-Shepard!"

* * *

She blinked with confusion as she returned to reality. Beside her was Mila, grinning like there was no tomorrow. Opposite her sat her ground team; Riley, Mila's older (and clearly more mature) brother and the Major. She hadn't spoken a word or even spared a glance at the latter since their meeting yesterday, yet she dared a glance at him now. Just to be sure that it had only been a dream.

He was looking away, which was good. She would hate to let him think she cared about him. When she saw his eyes the same brown and face the same as she remembered it, she sighed with relief. No distortion, no hint of evil (well, that much evil). That calmed her, if only a little. Enough for her to at least accept that there was no impending doom - for now.

"Shepard?"

The person who had called her was their pilot - Flight Lieutenant Johnson, or Kasey as Shepard preferred to call her. She stared at Shepard herself now, expression masked by a military indifference that she hated seeing soldiers wear.

"We're here, Commander." She stood up and pressed for the shuttle door to open.

"Thanks Kasey. And it's Shepard remember? I'm not big on formalities." From somewhere behind her she heard someone scoff derisively. Aside from the fact that she recognised the sound, it was quite clear who the doubt had come from. After all; who else would doubt her as much as the Major?

Clenching her jaw and closing her eyes to count to ten (a way to calm down, or so she had been told) she managed to get to five before she gave up and instead stepped out of the shuttle and decidedly got on with the mission. That would take her mind off things. Or just give her even bigger problems to worry about.

The place that they had arrived at was supposedly a spaceport, though it looked little more than an over-glorified cabin and bar. That was the terminus systems for you.

But this place was important, as it was where Anderson was last sighted. Why he had been here she had no idea, but that didn't matter. What she cared about was finding out where he was now. Sooner rather than later.

"You two ready?" She purposefully spoke to her ground team at the same time, since it meant not having to speak with the Major directly. She saw Riley nod, and just assumed that her other team member had. If he hadn't, then it was his loss. Waiting around now only meant wasting more time that could be spent finding Anderson.

A small shack with a poorly made sign above it was where she headed to. From what she did actually know, they were headed to the 'Star Struck' lounge, since that was where they were meeting their contact. Other than that, she didn't know anything. Apparently being the leader of the entire mission still didn't make her vital or trustworthy enough to be given information. That meant she was left just having to figure it out as she went along.

So this contact of theirs was a complete mystery to her, as was practically everything else.

"Who is this informant that were supposed to be meeting then?" From seemingly out of nowhere Riley pulled out a datapad, which he immediately handed over to her. As she read, he spoke.

"She's the leader of a small but troublesome mercenary group, though she's so far managed to stay out of prison. She says she was the last person that made contact with Anderson, and as well as that says she knows where he was headed and why." She frowned.

"Well he was headed for Vancouver, wasn't he?" She asked, already knowing her answer. She sighed. This just complicated things even more. And right now she didn't want complicated - she wanted results.

By now they were in the doorway of the lounge, where Shepard's ears had already begun to ring from all the pounding rhythms and terrible beats. She found herself practically shouting the next part.

"Then can I know the name of this informant were meeting?" Riley nodded, just as she noticed a couple of Batarian's idly drinking in the corner. For an instant she held her breath, and slowly released it again once she noticed they hadn't seen her. Because two Batarian's spotting her would only result in another galactic war. And she didn't really have time for another one of them.

"Yeah. Were looking for someone called Allison Gunn." It was a good that the music was almost unbearably loud. Because it hid her fit of laughter that would have otherwise made her look insane.

Well, more insane then she already supposedly was.

* * *

Sitting in a dark corner of the room - face covered by a dark hood - sat Allison Gunn. Or who the others believed to be . She however, knew better. The child in her felt terribly smug.

"Commander Shepard, it's an honour to finally meet you." A smirk was on her face while she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I didn't realise you made a habit of stealing names as well as everything else ." The figure shifted in her seat, revealing a smirk similar to her own beneath her dark hood. It was a welcomed sight.

"Nice to see you too Shep. Not incarcerated either, and that's a considerable improvement." She laughed, realising at the same time how long it had been since she had done that. From the Collectors to having been put under arrest, she hadn't been left much time for laughter. Or fun. Or anything, really.

"Your telling me, I think I might have even figured out the meaning of life I was so bored."

"Then I guess it's good that I got you out again." Of course. It didn't come as much of a surprise to find that the woman had been meddling in affairs she shouldn't be again. That was basically all she ever did.

"And here I thought I was out because of the kindness of the Admirals heart's." The figure was still smiling when she finally stood up to stand in front of Shepard herself.

"Well, Admiral Hackett _did_ come up with the idea." Then her grin increased. "But I was the one who falsified the other Admirals answers in your favour." Another smirk. "Your welcome, by the way."

"Oh how I am indebted to you my wondrous master, how is it that I can show my undying loyalty to you?"

"Buy me a drink and we'll discuss the rest." The two grinned at each other much like a couple of kids. Extending her hand, they went to shake like a couple of proper people would, but instead slapped the others hand on the back and front, in some sort of weird imitation of a high five. It was fortunate that neither of them found this strange. Though the same couldn't be said for the others present.

"Seriously though, thanks for getting me out. It was torture being in lockdown with nothing to do."

"No problem. I thought I would save the Alliance from you."

"From me?" Shepard asked, disbelief in her tone. In response the hooded woman smirked.

"Who else Shep? You can't sit still, so it was inevitable that you would have turned crazy from being under house arrest for so long." It was so blindingly true that Shepard herself didn't even bother to deny it. Instead she just grinned even more.

"You always say the kindest things to me Kasumi." Something suddenly stirred behind her, which she initially thought was one of the Batarian's, up until she heard the voice. That voice.

"Your Kasumi Goto?" The Major questioned, his voice as surprised as it was angry. "The thief?"

"Hey!" Kasumi called defensively, as she ran to protect her honour (of which she had little). "I'm not just any thief, I'm _the _thief. The best in the galaxy, thank you very much." The Major practically growled.

"Your wanted for over a hundred different crimes by the Alliance, do you honestly think that were going to let you walk away from this?"

"Yes." Shepard spoke up suddenly, turning to face the last person she ever wanted to look at. Judging by his glare, the Major was feeling the same as her. Though she did look more at his feet than she did his face. "Kasumi's going to be helping us with this mission."

"You better not be leading me on another suicide mission Shepard," Kasumi jutted in with, bringing a tiny smirk back onto Shepard's face. "One of them is enough for me."

"Don't worry, I think I've had enough of your screaming to last a lifetime." Kasumi laughed.

"I wasn't the one screaming, that was Zaeed."

"Zaeed? That man screams like a little girl." They both laughed, long enough for someone to clear their throat impatiently. Of course that person was the Major. All at once her mood soured again, so when she next looked at him she was glaring.

"That still doesn't mean that this thief is above Alliance jurisdiction."

"Yes it does." He laughed suddenly, though it was bitter and full of malice and contempt. A far cry from the laughter she remembered.

"And what authority do you have? Your not even officially Alliance anymore!"

"Who's been put in charge of this mission?" Childishly, she raised her hand while simultaneously looking to see if anyone else had. Of course no one had, which made her smirk increase. She even waved her hand about to emphasis it.

"Oh look, I'm in charge, and I alone am. So it's my command your going to listen to, whether you like it or not. And to be honest, I don't really care what you think anymore Major." Eyes narrowed and fists clenched, the Major's jaw was clenched so tightly it looked as if he would break it.

"Well you should _Shepard, _considering that my opinion holds weight now."

"That's a first."

"That was immature." She stuck out her tongue at him, to which he only glared maliciously. "That even more so."

"Are you two quite finished?" Kasumi interrupted with, clearly her throat to add to it.

The sudden interruption made Shepard become properly aware of her surroundings, primarily that she was mere inches away from the Major, their noses almost touching. It would have been a romantic sight, had the two of them not been glaring at each other, while their hands rested on their guns. Kasumi's question had been to get them to step back from each other, but Shepard herself wasn't about to back down and apparently neither was the Major.

After a long, tense moment - the Major finally relented. She made sure he saw her triumphant smirk.

"If you need me I'll be back on the shuttle." The offer was clearly a reluctant one, which Shepard herself knew she wouldn't use. Even if she did need his help, she wasn't going to admit that to him. No, he wouldn't get that satisfaction.

"Trust me - I won't need you." The 'go away' part was also implied when she spoke. After a grumble and a glare the Major left. Good riddance, though she kept that thought to herself.

Then - as she looked away from the quickly receding Major - she saw the look that Kasumi was pulling. For a person who was always either grinning or smirking, the lack of any sort of smile told Shepard enough. So she turned next to her other team member.

"Riley, go back with the Major." He opened his mouth to protest - and she opened hers to interrupt him - but Kasumi cut them both off.

"Don't worry kid, I've saved Shepard's ass so many times I've become a natural."

"Then that makes up for all the times that I've saved your's." Kasumi again grinned.

"Touché." Riley seemed to begrudgingly accept this, as after a quick salute (one which she wasn't quick enough to stop) he too left, following in the Major's footsteps. The moment that he was out of her sights, she slouched slightly and a lopsided smirk found it's way onto her face.

The one perk of having a master thief knowing almost all your secrets, was that you didn't need to pretend to be anything you weren't. Around pretty much everyone else she was Commander Shepard, but now she was just a concerned girl trying to find her friend. That was all she cared to be right now.

"So what information do you have?" She asked, noting almost absentmindedly that the two Batarian's were no longer in the room (though she didn't think anything of it).

"There's a lot to explain." That serious expression was still on Kasumi's face as she spoke, which worried Shepard. If someone as calm and collected as a master thief was nervous, then what did it say about the situation? But she refused to panic, since she wouldn't be able to think clearly if she did. Instead she just kept that lopsided smirk of hers on her face when she gestured to the table in the corner nearby.

"Then grab a seat and I'll order us some drinks." Yet another grin from Kasumi.

"That's quite possibly the best plan you've ever come up with Shepard."

* * *

Information was a part of Kasumi's trade, so Shepard never once doubted what the thief had to say, nor the truth in what she said. All she doubted was whether her mind was playing tricks on her. This was insane, which meant a lot considering some of the things she had seen and done.

What was initially Anderson investigating a series of seemingly unrelated murders and kidnappings, turned out to be something much darker than that. Eventually Kasumi had found out what the Admiral was doing, and managed to meet him before he left towards the Shrike Abyssal to further investigate his mad theories.

This was all done because of curiosity, or so Kasumi had claimed.

But what she didn't think to be true was what Anderson believed to be going on. It was not just insane but impossible - which wasn't a term that Shepard ever used lightly.

The murders, disappearances and kidnappings had been due to indoctrination, as Anderson had found out. But not indoctrination by the Reapers.

By people.

* * *

So Shepard was finally on the trail. About time, was what they thought. For a supposedly heroic Commander, the saviour of the galaxy wasn't the most intelligent of people. Though she was still minutely smarter than most. Which was why they watched her now.

And watched her always.

What would her next move be? They already knew. They always knew.

Which was why she would never see them coming.

* * *

**Author's Note.**

SORRY IT'S ANOTHER LONG UPDATE/RANT/GIBBERISH CHAT SESSION. I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS, YOU KNOW? XD

So it's almost midnight as I'm posting this, therefore I've come to the conclusion that I'm most productive at crazy early hours of the morning. When I'm not dribbling on my keyboard from exhaustion that is. I do however, have a few things to say about this before I go and hibernate for another week. Feel free to leave if you don't care to know about any of this. :')

Firstly, am I putting in too many new characters? I'm trying not to but if all the new names are confusing and hard to remember who's who then please tell me and I'll (try) do something about it.

And secondly, if there are any mistakes or grammatical errors then I don't mind if you point them out to me because they need to be corrected anyways.

I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, and I hope that your enjoying this story so far. Thank you to all the people who have taken an interest in this story, and a special thanks to the people who have reviewed!

Have a nice week/or until I update again (Side note: I'm not going to say that I'll post a chapter every week because chances are I won't stick to that)/

Thanks a whole million! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bioware or it's awesome characters. Though that may change.

* * *

_Missing_

Chapter 4.

* * *

When she did eventually return back to the ship (much later on); she didn't bother sparing the Major a glance. After all but acting like a child and storming off, she wasn't in any sort of mood to be dealing with the overgrown man-child. Granted she had provoked him just a little, but not enough for him to go off sulking.

Not that the Major even noticed that she refused to go near him, being that the console he stood working at was apparently far more interesting and important than her. How his fingers punched random buttons on the terminal; it was obvious that he wasn't actually doing anything on it, except using it as an excuse to avoid her. Which she didn't mind in the slightest.

So instead of him, the first person she turned to was Riley. Who saluted her before she could stop him.

"Commander, your back." She bit back her comment about stating the obvious in favour of getting straight down to business. Childish sarcasm could come later.

"Riley, find some space for Kasumi to stay. Somewhere that doesn't have anything valuable in it." A single nod and he was off, so she turned to her next order of business. They had a lot to do, with only a short amount of time to do it in. Since she had already wasted a fair amount of that precious time drinking with Kasumi (not her idea, though she hadn't protested against it), she promised she would make up for it now.

"Kasey?" She called out into the air, hoping she didn't look like she was talking to herself.

"_Commander?" _Came the questioning voice over the Comm not a moment later. Giving Kasumi one look, the thief answered with a nod of approval.

"Set a course for the Shrike Abyssal. Sooner would be preferable to later." She could almost hear the pilot saluting as she set about her work. Perhaps it was because the last ship she worked on was the farthest thing from military, but this ship was strict even by Alliance standards. Everyone was too formal and too proper, and it was quickly becoming a dull ship to work on. She really was missing the Normandy, and it's crew.

"Mila?" She called, and her bouncy friend popped into her view startlingly fast, grinning broadly as always. For once she was thankful for this, since it meant not having to trek all around the ship to find the girl. Or endure a ride in the stupidly slow elevator.

"Need something Commander?"

"Get Hackett on the Comm system. There's a lot he needs to be caught up on." In response Mila nodded, saluted, then ran off towards the elevator before pausing and turning back to face her.

"Should I get the Major as well ma'am?" Giving Mila one long look, her initial thought was no. It still was no, even as she looked over to the Major, who was still busy pushing random buttons on the console. While she knew what she should do, she didn't want to do it. Being near him just seemed to end in an argument these days.

Eventually the child in her groaned, while the rational adult side nodded her consent to Mila, who grinned and bounced off towards the Major. There was no going back on her word now, even if she still fervently believed that them being in the same room would be disastrous. But he needed to hear what she had found out, personal feelings aside. The mission came first. Anderson came first.

Whilst Mila spoke to the Major, she hurriedly rushed into the elevator before he too started heading towards it. A meeting with him would be bad enough, but an awkward ride with him in the galaxy's slowest elevator would undoubtedly make her suicidal.

It was her hope that he too would act mature about this. Like she swore she would be.

And undoubtedly wouldn't be.

* * *

The image of Hackett walked up in front of her, which she did actually salute at. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Major doing the same. After saluting to the both of them, the Admiral got straight down to business. No doubt he was as eager to hear what she had learnt as she was to tell him and get on with the mission.

"Commander. Mila says you have some important news. What have you and the Major found out?"

"_I've _found out where Anderson should be sir." She responded with, making a point to exclude the Major. He wasn't going to get credit for something he didn't do, since while she had been finding important information out he had been back on the ship sulking. This exclusion didn't go unnoticed by the Admiral, who looked curiously at the two of them just before Shepard herself continued to speak.

"According to Kasumi, Anderson's ship experienced a malfunction and lost power in the Shrike Abyssal, meaning that it's Communications were down so it couldn't contact anyone for help. That's where it should still be, along with Anderson and the rest of the crew on board."

"Kasumi Goto? You believe the word of a thief?" If the Major had been irritating before, then he would be unbearable now. She could almost feel his smugness rolling off of him in waves.

"Exactly what I said sir. Should I arrest her?" Before Hackett was able to speak, she butted in. Never mind that she had just interrupted a superior officer. With Hackett she could get away with it. If not, then she would deal with the repercussions later. That's what she always did.

"That won't be necessary Major." He turned just enough to stare at her. "You'll remember who's in charge on this mission, I hope." That stare of his soon turned into a glare. Smugness was replaced with irritation, which she was happy to see. Now she wasn't the only frustrated person. Though she had now broken her promise not to act like a stubborn child.

"And you'll remember your not actually a Commander, _Shepard_." It was now her turn to pull a smug smile.

"No, but I'm still a Council Spectre. That makes me above the law and allows me to do what I want." The Major opened his mouth to respond, but the clearing of a throat stopped him. Turning back, she could see the Admiral waiting with his arms crossed. As a way of apologising, she offered up the Admiral a half-smile. The look he gave her was order enough for her to continue speaking, childish arguments aside.

"Besides sir, Kasumi can be trusted." The Major scoffed. So she ignored him and continued. Responding to him would only lead to yet another argument. "She helped me bring down the Collectors. That's more than can be said about certain others." To the Major, she raised an eyebrow and pointedly gave him an expectant look. Judging by his souring expression, he had no doubt got her message. It wasn't exactly a subtle one after all.

Not noticing - or not caring about - any of it, Hackett just nodded.

"I trust your judgement Commander, I just hope that we can trust Kasumi's."

"You can sir." She answered with, just being thankful that she wasn't going to lose the first friend she had since the start of the mission. Nor would she lose her best source of information either, and that wasn't just regarding the mission. If the Alliance had a whole crew spying for them, then she thought it only fair to have a master thief doing the same for her. Hackett gave another nod.

"Then head to the Shrike Abyssal and let me know what you find."

"Already en route sir. My money's on either slavers or space pirates." A fit of mocking laughter burst from the Major then, as he stared at her patronisingly like she was his inferior.

"Space pirates? What are you, five?" Pursing her lips, she glared at him.

"Shut up." That only made him laugh even more, a sound that would have before made her laugh too. Now it only succeeded in irking her even further. If that was even possible.

"That was a terrible comeback. Even by your standards." Another glare, though this time she felt more in control. She wasn't going to let the Major think himself as her superior, never mind that he technically was. His ego was big enough already without that. And she had other things to focus on, that were far more important than him.

"I'm not going to play games when we have an Admiral to be saving." Was her blunt reply. She turned back to Hackett, who stood frowning at the two of them, looking as if he was formulating some sort of plan in his head. She didn't think much of it.

"I'll let you know what we find as soon as possible. Shepard out." Seeming to break from his speculative stupor, Hackett saluted the two of them, which she answered with a salute of her own immediately.

"Excellent, keep up the good work. Hackett out." It took not even a second after the Admiral had faded from view for the Major to turn to leave. And she would have let him do just that, had her big mouth not decided to rear it's ugly head.

"Kai-Major." She called out to him, correcting herself as she did. Stopping - or better put _tensing_ like her voice was a bullet hitting him - the Major turned his head just so she could see his expression turning to a glare.

"Hurry up and spit it out." Came his blunt reply. At least he had answered. Opening her mouth to speak, she just as quickly shut it again. A couple more attempts at speaking failed, every one of them sounding either false or too forced. Eventually she just sighed, and gave him what she hoped was an earnest expression.

"Look, we don't have to get along okay? Just try not to second guess my every movement, since were not going to get anywhere if you do." She paused to gauge his reaction, which seemed to be as impassive as it had been the first day they saw each other again. Impassive was a lot better than angry though.

So she chanced it and continued speaking.

"If we work together, then we'll get this problem solved a whole lot quicker. But you've got to understand and go along with my methods, because we are on the same side even if it may not feel like that." She exhaled, dropping her eyes to the ground so her voice came out as barely a whisper. Admitting her feelings was hard, especially to someone who she had once called her closest friend. The next part was almost impossible for her to ask, for she was terrified of the answer being the one she hoped it wouldn't be.

"After everything we've been through, don't you trust me?" There was a tense pause before he too sighed and finally answered.

"I did trust you Shepard. With my life." Another pause. "Then you joined Cerberus." With nothing more to say, the Major turned and left. Leaving her to stand staring at the space where he had been, a million conflicting thoughts dancing around in her head.

So the answer was the one she had expected. Though knowing the truth hurt so much more than she thought it would.

* * *

**Author's Note.**

Oh my LORD, I haven't updated this in what? Three weeks? More, less? I don't even know damn it. What I do know is I shouldn't have left this so long, and I'm sorry for doing it. Feel free to be angry if you so wish to be.

Thank you all the same for all the continued support, and thanks again to the people who have shown interest in the story so far!

Reviews would be much appreciated, but I'm not going to get upset if I don't get any so don't worry! Haha.

Over and out until next time! :)

P.s - Next chapter the REAL action begins, I promise!


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